Divorce – Financial question
Discussion
Will try and make this as short and to the point as poss as asking on behalf of a mate.
He and his wife have been separated for a few months now and it looks like divorce is on the cards, so he wants to know where he stands financially. One nipper involved and they have been married for 2 years, they have a property together mortgaged for 200k interest only, and about 30k of credit card debt (in his name) most of this was spent doing up their house. Both working full time earning the same money and no savings to speak of.
Main things he wants to know are listed below.
Will the 30k debt be split between them
Who gets the house as it was bought with a 30k deposit given from his folks and they now want it back, which I think he has in writing somewhere
Will he have to make any other financial commitments towards her apart from maintenance for the nipper
Thanks chaps!
He and his wife have been separated for a few months now and it looks like divorce is on the cards, so he wants to know where he stands financially. One nipper involved and they have been married for 2 years, they have a property together mortgaged for 200k interest only, and about 30k of credit card debt (in his name) most of this was spent doing up their house. Both working full time earning the same money and no savings to speak of.
Main things he wants to know are listed below.
Will the 30k debt be split between them
Who gets the house as it was bought with a 30k deposit given from his folks and they now want it back, which I think he has in writing somewhere
Will he have to make any other financial commitments towards her apart from maintenance for the nipper
Thanks chaps!
amglover said:
Will the 30k debt be split between them
That probably dpends how amicable all this is, but nope I wouldn't have thought so. Its not her debt is it, it is in his name.As for the £30k, if she was aprty to an agreement to repay the funds they might be ok, but if not then they might struggle to recover that money.
Don't have experience of divorce, but best speak to a solicitor as there might be a couple of gotchas.
For instance, be careful about the source of the deposit. As part of the buying process, this has to be noted and processed under money laundering regulations. If you have been loaned the money this is a non-trivial situation - e.g. does the loan agreement stand up to legal scrutiny, and does it apply to him only or to both parties. Unless it was done properly (and it's very unlikely as it would have made the conveyancing complicated and affected the mortgage) they probably stated the deposit was their own or a gift, which means the parents probably have no legal claim to the money and she (and technically he too) won't be liable for it.
My understanding is that unless specifically noted through some legal documentable evidence such as a prenuptial agreement, from the moment of marriage everything is a 50/50 contribution and liability, and everything before that is excluded. If the house was bought before marriage, the entry in the land registry is the legal definition of who contributed to its purchase, and in the absence of a declaration of trust detailing an unequal contribution this is 50/50 too.
Overall, what both parties should be aiming for is an equal split of all assets and debt (regardless of whose name it is in) which is then modified according to who has to look after the child. If they can agree to an amicable settlement on this basis, all the better. Don't underestimate the amount of modification required in the interests of the child, though. If she can't comfortably take on all the mortgage and half the credit card debt, there's zero point asking her to and he has most to lose if it ends up in court. If she can't accept that she should pay her share of the credit card (divorce can make people look for what they can get away with rather than what is right), it's probably destined for nastiness.
For instance, be careful about the source of the deposit. As part of the buying process, this has to be noted and processed under money laundering regulations. If you have been loaned the money this is a non-trivial situation - e.g. does the loan agreement stand up to legal scrutiny, and does it apply to him only or to both parties. Unless it was done properly (and it's very unlikely as it would have made the conveyancing complicated and affected the mortgage) they probably stated the deposit was their own or a gift, which means the parents probably have no legal claim to the money and she (and technically he too) won't be liable for it.
My understanding is that unless specifically noted through some legal documentable evidence such as a prenuptial agreement, from the moment of marriage everything is a 50/50 contribution and liability, and everything before that is excluded. If the house was bought before marriage, the entry in the land registry is the legal definition of who contributed to its purchase, and in the absence of a declaration of trust detailing an unequal contribution this is 50/50 too.
Overall, what both parties should be aiming for is an equal split of all assets and debt (regardless of whose name it is in) which is then modified according to who has to look after the child. If they can agree to an amicable settlement on this basis, all the better. Don't underestimate the amount of modification required in the interests of the child, though. If she can't comfortably take on all the mortgage and half the credit card debt, there's zero point asking her to and he has most to lose if it ends up in court. If she can't accept that she should pay her share of the credit card (divorce can make people look for what they can get away with rather than what is right), it's probably destined for nastiness.
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